Depoo played a role in struggle for Guyana’s democracy

Dear Editor,
I read of the passing of Randy Depoo, a Guyanese patriot who migrated to the US from Port Mourant, my home village, in the mid-1970s. He studied law and went on to work for the US State Department posted overseas. Before and after his official State Department assignment, He played a role in the struggle for free and fair elections in Guyana. He was a fearless champion of free and fair elections after his studies in law, and he was in the midst in the three-month struggle against the Mingo fraud. He spearheaded the petition to the State Department calling for sanctions on those who condoned electoral fraud.

I first met Depoo around 1986 through Ravi Dev, who I had known about a year earlier through common friends Bhanu Dwarika and Ramesh Kalicharran. My association with Bhanu and Kali go back earlier to when I was doing research on Indo-Guyanese pioneers in America; we would hold meetings at Bhanu’s apartment discussing publications and studies on Indo-Caribbean diaspora and VS Naipaul. Bhanu and Kali informed Dev of the activism of myself, Vassan Ramracha, and Baytoram Ramharack on Guyana affairs. Dev made contact with us to unite our efforts in the struggle for the restoration of democracy in Guyana and we would meet at the CUNY Graduate Center where I was doing doctoral studies; Dev’s office was near CUNY. Dev, Depoo and a few others formed an organization – Guyana United Democratic Movement – that met every Sunday morning for religious service on 168 Place Jamaica; Dr Prem Miisir was also with the group. Vassan, Ramharack and I would meet them for discussion on Guyana at that venue and occasionally at Dev’s building not too far away.

Several Guyana related events functions, forums, including a talk with Kwayana, were held at that spacious office. I helped to organise several events there. I am thankful to Dev and Depoo for granting space for meetings. At the time, Depoo had qualified in law and Dev was pursuing his law degree. They spent their personal money to pay the rent for the second floor (to host GUDM office at a time when few made contributions towards Guyana’s effort or even cared about Guyana) of the two-story building. They were committed and passionate about the struggle for the restoration of democracy in Guyana. Depoo was not as active as dev but he was very committed and supportive of the struggle.

Depoo and occasionally his brothers, wife, kids and parents joined us for rallies and protests and walked the picket line to highlight awareness of human rights violations in Guyana. He was among a few Guyanese who came to meetings and rallies as a family. They even attended Indian Arrival Day celebrations that we organised in Richmond Hill.

Then he was called up for an assignment with the US State Department around 1989. After a brief stint in Washington, he was posted in Manila; when I visited the Philippines during my teaching sabbatical he had left and was posted in Caracas. And when I passed through Caracas on my way to Guyana from New York, he also left. I would meet him in Trinidad in the late 1990s where he was posted. In between, we communicated via letters when he was in Manila, Caracas, and Port of Spain. I would meet him at various political meetings all over Trinidad where I used to conduct opinion polls since the early 1990s. Depoo retired from Foreign Service after his four-year stint in Trinidad around 2002.

We continued interaction. In Trinidad, he worked closely with the Guyanese diaspora organising various celebrations. I used to visit Trinidad regularly almost every couple of months over the last three decades and partook in some of these activities. He also did fundraising drives for the PPP campaign effort.

Sometime last year, during a breakfast meet Trinidad, Depoo announced he would remigrate to Guyana permanently and set up a law practice. He was called to the bar in the US, Trinidad, and Guyana. He came to Guyana about a month before the election and worked assiduously to help PPP get elected. He had found a place for his law office. But God called him. I express my condolence to his wife, daughter and two sons, and grandchildren and his kinfolks. His service to the diaspora in Trinidad will be missed.

Yours truly,
Dr Vishnu Bisram